>> gretchen: tomorrow, bob massi will be here, senator john mccain and new jersey housewife caroline manzo. rocco is telling us, this used to be 700 calories. >> now 136. >> brian: and counting. >> talk about a government reduction. if we could run the government like this. >> steve: from pasta to politic politics. militias. at the same time there are new questions where this investigation is going if anywhere. remember it has been nearly two weeks since the deadly september 11 attack on a u.s. consulate in benghazi. that is where we begin. i'm bill hemmer. good morning to "america's newsroom.". martha: good morning, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. there are still really a lot of unanswered questions. it is still unclear what the libyan government is doing to bring those killers to justice. president obama yesterday

telling the u.n. assembly that america will get to the bottom of the murders of chris stevens and the others. >> the attack on civilians in benghazi were attacks on america. there should be no doubt we will be relentless tracking down the killers and bringing them to justice. bill: how possible is that while order in libya is still unknown? we want to begin our coverage now. greg palkot streaming live out of tripoli. what is the latest on this militia crackdown there, greg? >> reporter: bill, martha, we're getting mixed signals about that. we were just talking to our contact in benghazi. he said one of the key militias in that city is it falling into line with the government. we've been out and about here in tripoli. we visited one compound where militias were driven out by libyan security forces but there are new protests planned for here and in benghazi on friday. a sign maybe the folks here aren't too sure what is going on with the militias.

amid new concerns some of their weapons are going into the wrong places. one militia commander says a lot of the shoulder-fired rockets that he was holding on his base had disappeared in the turmoil of the past couple of days. those kind of shoulder-fired rockets are the kinds of things that terrorists like to get their hands on, bill. bill: what about this investigation, the probe into the killings, where does that stand today, greg? >> reporter: right now two weeks ago ambassador stevens body as as well as the body of three other americans would have been back in germany on the way to the u.s. evacuated from this country after the attack on the consulate. right now at this time we don't have clear indication what is going on with the probes. new report that u.s. investigators are on the ground here. as for the libyan side, the libyan president yesterday quoting saying he had 40 suspects in hand connected with the killing except a

week ago, bill, he said he had 50 suspects in hand and the interior ministry two days in fact told us they had only 25 suspects in hand. one confirmation, one concern we're having, bill, with all the turmoil and crack down and kicking out of militants the worry that the suspects would be harder to find. one militia commander confirmed that in a quote he offered. he was going to go after some of the suspects in the ansar al-sharia group base a couple days ago. the crackdown happened. they left and raid was called off. confusing scene. >> thank you, there, greg. martha. martha: governor mitt romney addressing the recent violence overseas in a campaign stop during the key battleground state of ohio. he is asking where the leadership is on all of this from the white house. he says we don't need a president who stays silent. >> it means that with the developments in the middle

east these days when we have a an ambassador assassinated, when we have 20,000 people killed in syria, when we have a muslim brotherhood leader become the new president of egypt, when we have iran moving closer and closer to a nuclear clear weapon, we don't have a calling these things bumps in the road. we have a president who takes this serious to get america on track to shape world affairs. martha: that is a major focus of governor romney past couple days. he is also slamming the obama administration for quote, not coming clean on murders of four americans in libya. karl rove on that. twin explosions targeting a syrian building. this is brand new video we have just gotten in. it is amateur video we're monitoring for you. these explosions in a busy square in central damascus. they set fire to a building there. conflicting reports over

fatalities and anti-regime group is involved in this claiming responsibility saying dozens were killed in these attacks while the army says no one died. conflicting reports there. so diplomats living close to the area saying this is the biggest blast they have heard in months. bill: get ready for more headlines on this story in a matter of moments. iran's president ahmadinejad speaks at u.n. this morning. jonathan hunt standing by live on the east side of manhattan. what is expected today from him, jonathan? >> reporter: in one word, bill, fireworks. this is likely to be president ahmadinejad's last address to the u.n. general assembly as president of iran. his second term expires next june and it is unlikely that the iranian president given his history of explosives and inflammatory rhetoric here at the u.n. is likely to go quietly this time around. he has already called in interviews here in new york for a new world order, an

end to what he sees as american imperialism. he is also likely to repeat what he said in some of those interviews, saying that iran does not fear in any way, shape or form an is rally strike -- israeli strike against its nuclear facilities and iran is able to defend itself. look for delegations like the united states to walk out once again as soon as he starts criticizing israel. bill: there were stunning comments from pakistan's president last night. what was spoken there, jonathan? >> reporter: this is pretty extraordinary, bill. it reported on fox report but appeared to slip under the radar for a lot of media outlets because it was one of the final speeches of the day. just hours after president obama at the same podium called for tolerance and called for leaders of the muslim world to outright condemn the violence against u.s. interests that we've seen over the past couple of weeks, the pakistani president walked up to that

podium, failed utterly to issue any strong condemnation of the protest, instead called on the united nations to lead a charge to make illegal for anyone, anywhere including here in the united states, to insult the prophet muhammad. listen to this. >> you can never condone violence. the international community must not become silent observer and should criminalize such attacks that destroy the peace of the world and endanger the world security by misusing freedom of expression. >> reporter: once again, bill, that is the leader of one of our supposed allies, calling on the u.n. to pass laws that would trump the united states constitution. bill? bill: jonathan, thanks. we'll be back in touch when there are headlines today as expected. jonathan hunt at the u.n.. martha: take a look at the u.s. economy this morning.

there is a new report that has some not very good news on this. families are seeing a lot less money in their paychecks according to this new report. it finds the median household income fell by 1.1% to under $51,000 last month. you take a look at the chart on this since 2009 and it is not a pretty picture. it is a significant drop since the president came into office. stuart varney joins me now. he is the host of "varney & company" on the fox business network. stuart, good morning. that's a tough chart. >> yes, it is a tough chart. it paints a picture of real distress in middle america. buying power down, our standard of living falling and hardship, hardship right there in the middle of america is actually give gettingous. -- getting worse. let me give you key number. from the start of the obama administration the median household income in america has fallen, repeat, fallen, down around $4,000.

we've not seen this kind of decline over a long period of time, three, four years, we have not seen this before. if you go further and look at the hardship picture we find this year a half million people, actually more than a half million people flat-out dropped out of the workforce. they quit looking for work. they're out of the workforce. and another 736,000 people have gone on social security disability this year. add it up all together, declining income, more people on disability. far more people on food stamps, 12 million more on food stamps, that is a picture of hardship and declining standards of living all across middle america. that is where we stand this september. martha: yeah, i mean the numbers are very grim. yet so interesting to me, stuart, a couple of opposing things here. you have a housing market that seems to be picking up a little bit and sentiment, it would appear when you look at the presidential election, that does not go

against the president based on these numbers. >> very interesting the way this has not played into the election. you might have thought if you asked the question, are we better off now, the answer is probably no, we are not but that is not rebounded against president obama. that's as we stand with what 42 days to the election, something like that. you're right, martha, no impact on the election, you're right, grim numbers. no impact. martha: new normal perhaps. >> maybe, yeah. martha: playing into this. stuart, thank you very much. we'll see you coming up in just a little while. bill: so stunning to see how the economy, the way it has gone, the place it is now. we're going to find out in an hour when we take you back to ohio. the unemployment numbers have gotten better there but the underemployed is phenomenal. the numbers are so high. the way people had to remake their lives is stunning. that will factor how we vote in 41 days. martha: increasing numbers of people on food stamps and disability which we've seen increase dramatically.

there raise as question whether people find other ways to supplement their income and thinking you know what, this is as good as it gets, this is very changed country. martha: it is. bill: check it out. these are violent protesters clashing with police. we'll tell you where and why they are so angry this time around. martha: and a group of senators is now demanding some answers over the attack on our u.s. consulate in libya. what they are asking for from ambassador susan rice. the plus this. >> oh. >> ohio. >> oh. bill: i mean it could be the battleground again. the key swing state of ohio. why romney and ryan are there again today. how competitive is it in ohio? >> i need you to find people that went out there and voted for barack obama and convince them to join our team. together we'll strengthen this country and make sure it provides the jobs we need

and keep it the hope of the earth! but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together.

mom's smartphone... dad's tablet... or lauren's smartphone... at&t has a plan built to help make families' lives easier. introducing at&t mobile share. one plan lets you share data on up to 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. add a tablet for only $10 per month. the more data you share, the more you save. at&t.

bill: we're now seeing governor romney and paul ryan speaking at a rally there. that is westerville, ohio, near columbus, ohio, franklin county, right in the middle of the state. yesterday romney slamming the president on libya in ohio. asking why the administration has been so slow to call the murders of four americans in benghazi a terrorist attack. hear is the governor on the stump. >> we expect candor from the president aptransparency and he continues to refuse to acknowledge what is said by the other members of the administration this is a terrorist attack. i can't ascribe exactly what the motives were for the president and administration of not coming clean very early on. but as soon as they learned the intelligence community has now indicated this was a terrorist attack they should have acknowledged that as opposed to continuing to

pretend like this was something other than that. bill: there is a lot to go through on this. want to bring it karl rove, senior advisor. deputy chief of staff for president george w. bush. a fox news contributor. good morning to you in washington. i want to analyze this from two fronts, the administration and how mitt romney does or does not capitalize on this. from the administration what explains the response that has gone out so far in the past two weeks? >> it is inexplicable. even the president recently on "the view" couple days ago continued to pin the murder on the ambassador on trailer for anti-islamic film when all the evidence points towards a terrorist attack, planned to occur on 9/11. i mean, look, the president of libya said so. the director of the national counterterrorism center said so. the intelligence community pointed in that direction. chairman of the house intelligence committee pointed in that direction. why the president contends to suggest this has something to do with offensive video and not a deliberate attempt to kill

our u.s. ambassador is beyond me. there is lot to be gained by stepping up being the president. there is not a lot gained by look being like you're offering up excuse why this happened. bill: one would think it would hurt his campaign six weeks before? >> you mentioned campaign. look at the president's schedule on the day after this happened of. he has a 10:35 a.m. rose garden news conference. he goes to the state department immediately after that. he cancels the presidential daily brief, the meeting with intelligence officials that is, held virtually every day. he cancels it. then he comes back to the white house and departs at 2:05 for vegas. arrives in vegas at 6:50 eastern time for a rally and fund-raiser. at 10:25 eastern time flies to colorado. next day he has a rally in colorado at 1:10 in the afternoon. departs back to washington at 3:00. arrives at 7:00 and goes to the congressional hispanic dinner. nowhere do we have a meeting

with the intelligence leadership of cia, national security agency, director of national intelligence and military and state department intelligence what do we know, what are we going to do? are there any disagreements? what do you need from me? bill: you're in the white house during 9/11. what does that schedule suggests to you? >> that schedule suggests to me the president more intent on campaigning than meeting his responsibilities as commander-in-chief. i'm astonished in the 48 hours in the murder of a u.s. ambassador and three other personnel in benghazi the president of the united states held a couple of fund-raisers and couple campaign events and attended the hispanic congressional dinner but couldn't find time to meet with the intelligence leadership. bill: there was "60 minutes" interview. there could be more than one. this is what mitt romney is saying. he is saying iran is that close to going nuclear. he talks about syria and 20,000 dead in that ongoing conflict and the muslim

brotherhood leading now in egypt. how is he handling this? >> well he is disingauged, well the president is disingauged. romney is pointing out a very concrete pattern on disingaugement on america's foreign policy. we're projecting weakness at a time we need to projecting strength. we're showing feebleness when we need to show resolve. i was amazed in the tick-tock on the call he made on the 12th of september to the libyan president that it was revealed that this was the first time the president had talk to the libyan president. i can't imagine that in this part of the world whether a new leader takes office that the president of the united states doesn't seem to understand how important that personal relationship is and didn't bother to call the president of libya when he was sworn into office earlier this summer. bill: one more thing. i just want to make this quick. i don't mean to cut you off but in interest of time here, where does this go, if anywhere? >> well, look, it's eating

up time on the calendar if it had not happen we would be talking about economy, deficits, jobs and affordable care act. if mitt romney is going to use this successfully he needs not only to make this critique and point out this is broader frame as seeing the president disengaged not up to the job, giving it his best and failing on behalf of the american people and relate that to the dough messtic economy as well. bill: when the debate number one is rather is week from today. carl, thank you. karl rove in washington on that. here is martha. martha: there are violent protests breaking out about big government spending cuts. look at these scenes. why thousands of people are taking to the streets in spain and what it could mean for your wallet here at home. we'll be right back. [shouting] [gunfire] [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

your soups are so awesomely delicious my husband and i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. we're not in london, are we? no. why?

apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity, you could also set up free account alerts. okay. [ female announcer ] at wells fargo we're working around the clock to help protect your money and financial information. here's your temporary card. welcome back. how was london? [ female announcer ] wells fargo. together we'll go far. [ female announcer ] wells fargo. sometimes, i can't believe the things i'm able to do. without shriners hospitals, my life would be completely different. when i was seven, we found out i had scoliosis. everything changed when they stepped in. it was like they gave me my future back. tori's life is one of nearly a million changed by donations from people like you. send your love to the rescue. donate today.

bill: want to talk you back to this rally. mitt romney up early in westerville, ohio. that is the key state of ohio right in the center part of the state near columbus, ohio, the capital city. mitt romney hitting the president on debt and deficit spending moments ago. >> do we want four more years where every single year the take-home pay goes down? >> no!. >> do we want four more years of trillion dollar deficits? >> know. >> i don't believe we can afford four more years like the last four years and the reason i believe after the debates and after the cam panes and after all the ads are over, the people of ohio are going to say loud and clear on november 6th, we can't afford four more years. we must do better. [cheers and applause] bill: you can watch this speech. it steams life on foxnews.com as the rally continues there in

westerville, ohio. martha: fire and protests in the streets of europe. listen to some of this. [shouting]. those are the scenes with riot police out in force in the streets of the city of madrid. clashing with hooded protesters there. tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets according to reports on the ground there. they're angered at another round of steep budget cuts that have come down. a default is the concern here and that could sink europe's economy and could sink ours as well, many economists believe if it comes to that. amy kellogg joins me live from london. those are the scenes from madrid. a bad situation also unfolding in greece. >> reporter: yeah, over here greece is really the most troublesome part of the eurozone, eurozone jigsaw, martha. it is ground zero and it is really caught in a vicious and violent cycle. basically if greece can't pay back its loans, if it

can't pay back its debt and it will have to default and possibly leave the eurozone. it can't pay back the loans if it doesn't get further bailout money. it will not receive the next tranche of bailout money if it doesn't get further cuts and add to that it has a very shaky government that could fall. this is the first big strike since the fragile conservative-led government came to power in june. the strike protested the latest budget cuts. people are feeling pain. salaries are dropping already by a third is not an uncommon story. that could get worse. unemployment is at 19% in greece. youth unemployment is closer to 50%. there is real desperation, a declining middle class. black clothed anarchists hijacked what was earlier peaceful but albeit angry demonstration against these budget cuts. we saw protesters hurling gasoline bombs at the police. for now, martha, it quieted down but the day is not over. martha: it's not and likely

to happen again. so what about spain, amy? what is the latest there? >> reporter: in spain yesterday was quite on edge. there were big protests. 64 people were injured. there were lots of arrests. spain also in a very difficult way. police were firing rubber bullets. they were baton charging the protesters. spain's unemployment, martha? 24%. youth unemployment around 50%. this is the highest unemployment since the '70s. the economy of spain is expected to shrink, not grow but shrink by 1.6% this year. the bank of spain has said, that its recession is quickening at a very significant pace. in the june, martha, the european union earmarked $130 billion to bailout spain banks but the government itself is very hesitant to ask for a proper bailout because that has a very high political price and, again, that requires more cutbacks. we're going to hear tomorrow

from spain about what further cutbacks need to be made at the current stage after already some very heavy reductions in education and health. martha: boy, what a mess. 24% unemployment in madrid and of course all of our economies. the u.s. and these large economies in europe all intertwined in many ways. amy, thank you very much. >> you're welcome. bill: with we thought it all went away because the coverage went away. it has been a mess for the last couple months. watch to story. how will the markets react to the uproar in europe? opening bell only moments away. we'll see which way the dow goes then, huh? martha: a new group i should say of so-called undecided voters? could white men be sort of unsure which way they will go in this election. we'll talk about that and why they may be the key factor in some of these key states. ed rollins.

>> announcer: this is the day. the day that we say to the world of identity thieves "enough." we're lifelock, and we believe you have the right to live free from the fear of identity theft. our pledge to you? as long as there are identity thieves, we'll be there. we're lifelock. and we offer the most comprehensive identity theft protection ever created. lifelock: relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or

go to lifelock.com today. ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go.

>> these are tough times, even for families with jobs. i know what it takes to get this economy going again. i care about the people of america and the difference between me and president obama, is i know what to do and i will do what it takes to get this economy going. [applause] martha: on the campaign trail that was governor mitt romney in the buckeye

state where he is expected to be spending a quite a bit of time over next couple of weeks. his campaign insists they're confident about victory in ohio, which of course is probably the most important swing state, despite recent polls show president obama is in the lead there and this is a quote from the romney campaign. there is just a nice, wide, open path. so i'm not, we're not in a situation where we're forced into this boxed canyon to say, we have to win this string of states. but at the end of the day ohio of course will come down to the wire they say. so, let's take a look at average polls, recent polls that come out of ohio where president obama actually leads governor romney by 5%. there are numbers that are much wider margin than that, and there are numbers smaller margin than that. that is the real clear politics average right now, a 5% gap for mitt romney in ohio. joined by ed rollins former deputy chief of staff of president reagan and managed

the campaign for reagan in 1984. nine campaigns and fox news contributor. many of many talents. how are you doing? >> i'm doing fine. martha: is that quote from the romney campaign what you say at this point? that you want to remain confident and you've got some time and you feel like you can do it? >> you don't, you can't win without ohio. you just have to get that in your head. and there is not a whole bunch of states you can win and put 270 together. there is the path. the path you have to have florida. you have to have ohio. you will not get california and new york and you have to focus where you can win. ohio is the place where you can win. you look on the stage with the governor this morning, behind him is governor kasich who came from behind, won a great victory two years ago. governor portman had great victories. you can win in that state and make that a high priority. martha: after the pail ryan pick which governor romney got a lot of credit for, people said it was very bold decision. there was a lot of talk

perhaps ohio, wisconsin, michigan, being this path to victory. i looked at some of the wisconsin and michigan numbers this morning. though don't look so good, ed. >> michigan is tough. paul ryan basically adds immeasurably to the ticket. it will come out of the debate. not like he will gain a state automatically. wisconsin is not easy state. we haven't won wisconsin since i ran reagan's campaign in 1984. he gives us opportunity. martha: not to pat your settle on the back. >> it was ronald reagan. i lost minnesota to beckel. he won everything. martha: we'll have you guys to talk about that. there must be good stories in that. >> there are many good story. >> i'm sure there. when you look at the campaign i'm curious what you think. after the ryan pick as i said, very nice move in the polls for mitt romney. that was a real strengthening moment. what do you see as the major factor that brought us to the numbers we're at right now in this race? >> i think romney's had a struggle the last couple weeks.

obviously the 47% thing last week was not good. i think he is getting back in his groove. there is sufficient time to get this thing back on track. it's a narrow place where he has to go to win but i think it is all there. he just has to execute. he now has maximum television everywhere. they have a very strong ground game as does the obama team. it is really identifying voters and get them out and they're voting already. key thing, 30, 40% of the voters will vote before election day. you have to make sure everyone of those that are your voters get out to the polls. martha: what about this notion there is battle going on for white male votes? that they went obama basically in 2008, swung back during the midterms and voted for republican candidates during the midterm elections? you know is that, are they undecided this time around? >> i don't think so, but at end of the day you don't take any group that has been a strong element. republican party since 1972 you don't take them for granted.

many white males suffered immesh kbli by a loss of jobs. you need to get above 60% to basically offset single i am with that don't quite support republicans in the same way. it is important key constituency. it is about math at the end of the day. to get 51% a certain segment of the population. white males are critical. martha: you don't see any path that doesn't go through ohio. >> i don't see any path that doesn't go through ohio. martha: that is why they're spending quite a bit of time. great to to talk to you see you soon. >> thank you. bill: ann romney sitng down with jay leno, her first ever late night interview. on "the tonight show" talks about her husband's skills would turn around the economy. she went back to the first night they met at a party to describe the skills he shows on the dance floor. >> for me it was love and for him too. >> was he a good dancer? >> you know, jay, he has got to be a better dancer. >> boy, that is political

answer. that is a political awer. because i saw him dance when he came out at the republican convention. here, take a look. ♪ . [laughter] [applause] >> that is about as loose as i seen him. he was kicking back. >> that's mitt. >> that's him at home. bill: right on. stay tuned for that video. ann romney went on to talk about some of the shortcuts about raising five sons. including dressing them for church the night before. only needed to comb their hair in the morning. i ask you, mrs. maccallum. have you ever tried that? martha: no way. i get push back wearing a collar to church. i am chasing them to get a collar over their head at 9:15 on sunday morning. bill: you succeed so well.

martha: we'll see about that. i wonder if that videographer can make my husband dance like that. i would like to see that trick. there are new questions this morning what the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., susan rice really knew about what happened in libya when she said that the deadly attack on the u.s. consulate there was a spontaneous reaction to another event. why some lawmakers are now demanding some answers. >> we grieve for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

good wood jams

martha: let's take a look at the markets this morning. they're still kind of waking up it would appear on this wednesday. the dow is down about 4.6 at 13,000 as it digests all the news overseas from what is going on in madrid and going on in athens as well. we'll keep an eye on it throughout the morning, tell you what is going on. bill: we will. it was flying for a while. three republican senators demanding answers from the administration. u.n. ambassador susan rise

in a letter to her, saying the deadly attack looked like a spontaneous oatt growth of protest on 9/11 in egypt. but senators john mccain, lindsey graham, and kelly ayotte, suggesting rice may have known more. it was already clear the attack in libya was terrorist the a tack. we knew there was significant network of al qaeda affiliated groups and. there is more to the letter. captain chuck nash, fox news military analyst. former u.s. navy captain. good morning to you. do you have any doubt? >> no. i think it is what it is from the beginning. it had all of the hallmarks of a planned operation. it was, it was precise. they hit two object testifies. the fire was pretty well concentrated. and, there may have been a flashmob that came in afterward to join in or maybe there were some demonstrators, there, in advance, but this thing looks like it was an operation, almost with

military precision, operation was successful by those guys. so we can call it whatever we want. whether it was a terrorist attack which it was. it was some kind of militia operation. the libyan government last couple days are going out with forces under their control and supportive militias and literally taking down the compound and wiping out four of these islamist militias. so, the president of libya himself is even said, that it was a planned strike. so, i don't know why we keep --. bill: interview from nbc in an interview that aired this morning. with regard to the militia headquarters in benghazi, why don't we take them out, 2:00 in the morning send a strong message? you know what resides in eastern libya. this is a hotbed of muslim extremism. >> it was the third largest

contributor of foreign fighters to al qaeda in iraq who were killing americans. so, yeah, it was a prime recruiting ground for islamist forces. i think the answer, the short answer to that, the libyan government, this new libyan government we helped put in power is desperate to show they want to take care of things and they will clean this up. so i think they're going to do that all on their own. now what we have to do is make sure that, that it want one of those we'll round up the usual suspects kind of thing. we have to make sure that we're getting the full truth of what's going on there and not that they're just doing a little housecleaning. bill: this could be a long, bloody battle in that country. >> yeah. bill: we may start to see the beginning of this. back to the letter from the senators. these facts do not prevent you from labeling the murder of four americans as spontaneous reaction to the video and not a expression of hostility of to the united states. if the murder of four american diplomats is not a

expression of hostility it is difficult what would be. what would qualify for that? >> yeah, ouch. that is pretty pointed language and i think what they're taking the ambassador to task for is that well after, just about everyone including the president of libya had identified this as a terrorist attack she was still going with the story that it was a totally random event. therefore we couldn't have prevented it and it just, i think she will have to back off that statement. bill: you mentioned the libyan president. he sat down with ann curry. this is what he said happened there. >> attack on the consulate was preplanned, with the intention of killing ambassador stevens. that's -- [inaudible] bill: what he is saying it was preplanned and had nothing to do with video. video was even talked about the at u.n. yesterday by the

president. also this week he went on "the view" and said the best way to marginalize that kind of speech, referring to the film, is to ignore it. what's the effect then of talking about it day after day? >> i don't know because this thing is getting more play than it did when it ran in los angeles. the reports that came out were that it ran for a day, maybe two days in some obscure little theater called the vine and, nobody really saw this thing. so, it's getting far too much play and most of these demonstrators, in fact, i will bet you 99% of the demonstrators in the 20 countries where there have been demonstrations and riots over this haven't even seen the film or the organizers who organized all these mobs in protest. bill: you're probably right about that one. but when american leaders go out and talk about the film again you know words are translated immediately into arabic on al jazeera

television. they're being picked up and broadcast. the question comes back to, what is the effect of that? >> well the effect of that i think is, a, it unfortunately can be used by people who don't have our best interests at heart to spur on these mobs but the other thing is that unfortunately it makes it appear as if we're trying to write off a terrorist attack on a random event that was unpredictable and therefore there's no blame to be had when in fact that is not what happened and it's time to man up. bill: chuck nash, thank you. good to see you, captain. >> my pleasure. bill: martha. martha: continuing on that same theme of what really happened that night at the consulate in libya. pushback now also from capitol hill. lawmakers want answers from the white house. bill: also, there are dueling events today where else, but in ohio. president obama, governor romney, duking it out for votes in that key state. it will be the battleground

we know while voters there are focused on one issue only. >> there is with a lot of jobs slated to start and guys just put the brakes on. a lot of what we're hearing from the industry is it is due to this election. bill: this past weekend we went to ohio. martha: yes you did. bill: you're about to find out what folks there are talking about. it may give us some indication as which way ohio goes in 41 days. martha: so goes the nation perhaps. bill: could be.

bill: talks continue in the nfl lockout with the referees but still no word on a deal there. the league has taken some kind of heat after the controversial call by replacement refs on the final play off the monday night game. the losing quarterback, reining nfl, mvp, aaron

rogers speaking out. our sport is generated by people coming to watch us play. the product on the field is not being complimented by an appropriate set of officials. the games are getting out of control. end quote. oh, ho. martha: that is the mvp right there. there is discussion players will take a knee, basically. if they are worried about getting out of control they will be worried about their safety out there as well. bill: the league is in a precarious spot right now. you have to keep the integrity of the game. guys hurting every week. you have to crack down on the hg. had going on down there. martha: is tough spot as they head into that negotiation. let's take a look at the u.n. now because the president of iran is set to speak to the general assembly of the united nations. that will happen in the next hour. mahmoud ahmadinejad recently saying that israel has, quote, no roots in the middle east. he has notoriously called

for action to wipe israel off the map. he also said that the u.s. is acting like quote a bully in the dispute over tehran's nuclear program. i'm joined by the executive director of outreach for iran 180, which is a movement that calls for stopping iran's nuclear ambitions. chris, welcome. good to have you here. >> good to be here, martha. martha: ahmadinejad called for, he said he will talk about a new world order at the u.n. he is always good for some over the top quotes but this is serious stuff. >> whenever mahmoud ahmadinejad gets up to speak before the united nations we can be sure we'll be treated to a speech that is full of vial lies, conspiracy theories, outright misrepresentations of the truth and i think today is going to be no exception to that rule. martha: what did you think of president obama's talk when it came to what he said about iran? he said we will do what we must to prevent nuclear weapons from being able to be created in iran?

>> i think the president made it clear that the policy of the united states is that iran will not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. he said that the prefered pathway to that end is diplomatic but he made it clear that diplomacy can not be used as a stalling tack tech indefinitely by the iranian regime. and i think that it is clear that today, while he is in front of the united nations, that it is important that the international community convey a message to him, that the united nations demand iran end its uranium enrichment activities and it provide access to the international atomic energy agency to any and all sites it wants access to. president reagan had an excellent dictum pertaining to relations with the soviet union on nuclear issues. he said, trust but verify. i think with the iranians we have to take that a step

further. it is don't trust until we verify. in a absence of iaea gaining that access we won't be able to do that. martha: what about israel? there are those who think they will act and that could be imminent in terms of programs a military strike taking out some of these facilities? >> listen, it is certainly a possibility. what i think is important at this moment while we have the focus of the world on president ahmadinejad and the iranian regime's policies in this regard, that, a clear message be sent. by countries, the world over, that, iran's nuclear policies end their and their human rightses policies are unacceptable. we have a regime assisting the syrian regime in killing what the u.n. estimates over 20,000 people in the last year. a regime that locks up with impunity, political dissidents, people that don't see eye-to-eye with the regime. we need to know that that

mahmoud ahmadinejad is unwelcome here in new york. martha: chris, thank you. >> thank you, martha. bill: we have sad news for everyone in america now. getting word that legendary singer andy williams passed away last night. tuesday night at his home in branson, missouri, suffering from bladder cancer. he is 84 years old. what a legend he is. sing a song to moon river tonight you guys said tacos. [ female announcer ] it doesn't always work out that way. you know what? we're spending too much money on eating out anyway. honey, come look at this. [ female announcer ] my money map from wells fargo is a free online tool that helps you track your spending. so instead of having to deal with a tight budget, you could have a tighter family. ♪ wells fargo. together we'll go far.

wells fargo. [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk.

and every day since, two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. we've worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy -- and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. we've shared what we've learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. i want you to know, there's another commitment bp takes just as seriously: our commitment to america. bp supports nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. we hired three thousand people just last year.

bp invests more in america than in any other country. in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger. martha: a campaign showdown in ohio today. governor romney and president obama slugging it out in the buckeye state there now. brand-new hour starts of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. >> i'm bill hemmer. good morning at home. campaigning there governor romney accusing the president of preventing job growth by stifling free markets. >> i'm not afraid of -- martha: that is not exactly the way he said it. we'll get that audio fixed for you. you know a lot about ohio. it's very important in every election.

18 electoral votes on the table in the state of ohio. no republican has ever won the white house without taking ohio first. the governor held his first event in west tereville. a bit of star power he brought with him. >> he brought a golfer, jack nicklaus who is a native son and wowed the cloud and told of his hardship, and that his selfbuilt business has gone through hard times and he laid off 50% of his staff. mitt romney trying to connect with middle class voters. his hess average is merhis message is more jobs, less inch employment. mitt romney continuing his attacks against president obama warming up for the debate in denver next week, taking advice

from his fellow republicans highlighting the differences between himself and the president on a number of issues, including the role of government, here is what he said moments ago. >> he believes that the government should tell you what kind of insurance you have to have, he believes that government should have a board of people who tell you what kind of care you can receive. my view is refight for freedom in this count traoeurbgs i d country, i do not want an intrusive. massive government that crushess the america are american dream. >> governor romney sharing the state with president obama who has a couple of oepbts in bowling green, university and kent state while mitt romney goes ton to a county outside of cleveland and toledo later on tomorrow. martha: you are in a high school gym auditorium there. the issue of teachers and teachers' union which is also an important discussion in this

campaign. explain for us what the subject is there for us john. >> there are attacks leveled against mitt romney by president obama in the last couple of hours, it was at an nbc education nation event where president obama suggested that the governor has been trarpbin trashing teachers. let's show you what president obama has been take and what mitt romney has been sailing on the campaign trail. >> i think governor romney try to poe lit stkaoeuz the i shall eye and do a lot of teacher bashing. >> i think the president of the united states should be focused on the needs of the kaoed the kids, not on the teachers unions. i want to put our kids, the teachers themselves first and the union behind. >> new polls show president obama with a substantial lead in florida and ohio. we should point out that the democratic simple 9 points

higher, there does seem to be a bit of a trend stabbed here, martha. martha: thank you, john roberts in ohio. now we take you to tooth young man that we know who was a native of ohio. bill: we want to drill down and show you what happened four years ago and see if we can show you what is happening in ohio right now. it favored welcome back in ohio he took the state in the electoral votes then. he took it by 4.5, 5 points over senator mccain. 52-47 president. we just saw governor romney and the vice president ral candidate paul ryan, they are in west tereville. it bumps against delaware. columbus, ohio is a place that barack obama cleaned up 69 to 31% over john mccain. barack obama will leak lee win in the big cities, cleveland and columbus this times around which means governor romney has to

drive up those numbers out in the rural areas in the southwestern part of the state. what we found in ohio is that the politician, the man who can convince voters that they can create jobs in ohio will win the job for for mor four more years. >> red hutch itch son chased his american dream with a high school education and 13 years of hard work. bill: you built this company. >> absolutely from start to finish. >> his heavy equipment business which employs 140 people in the tiny counsel of car carol, ohio until he said the economy stalled this summer. >> a lot of jobs were slated to start and guys put the breaks on. a lot of what we here is it's due to the election. >> he recently laid off seven employees and can't even consider bringing them back until the white house is decided. the state's unemployment number is 7.2% which is about a point

lower than the national average, but many argue that hardly reveals the whole story across a state of nearly 12 million people. ohio's recovery has been uneven, it really depends on where you are in the state. this past summer unemployment it dropped in half of its 88 counties, but even at that rate it will take ohio three and a half years to at the time back where it was. >> a fifth generation homeowner says he's finally emerging from theee session. at the height of the economic boom he was building more than 200 homes a year. then he hit the wall. he did not put up a single house for three years. this year he's built 5, and for him the election is all about jobs. >> unemployment means people can't buy washing machines, cars and hopes, you know, so this is a key. if we go and do the same thing we've done the last couple of years you're going to see the economy drop back down again. >> he'll vote for governor romney, but the carpenter who works for him will not.

>> he took over a heck of a mess. dennis taylor this is president obama needs more time. >> i believe in him. >> you have faith in the president. >> oh, yeah. >> and you'll vote for him. >> oh, hell, yeah. >> the latest poll shows ohio will fulfill yet again its reputation as the battleground in america. the race is close butt president holds a slight lead. >> it's not about whether ohio is doing this much better it's this argument between romney and obama could who do a better job of bringing the country totally back. bill: here is what you have, you had unemployment at 7.2%. the under employment number is at 14%. how does that factor? it can be a march just lee compounding state of ohio, unemployment in the southeastern part of the state around 13%. in the mourn western part of the state it's 4.5. now you try to figure out how they mess iror balance each other out. why do people i have why is it

such a battleground. it's a big section of america, you have big cities, rural country sides. university towns where students votes. a lot of farmlands. you have huge minorities in ohio as well. martha: union vote as well. >> there is a large, large middle class in ohio, which is the reason why we keep our focus on it so greatly now especially in these economic times. 18 electoral votes, no republican has ever won the white house without winning hide, that's why you see romney and ryan today in central ohio. martha: we think of you like that, a gone tkpwopl hrat o that. bill: i'll take that. martha: vice presidental romney paul ryan back on the front burner it would appear on the national scene in this campaign had pretty hash words for president obama and his foreign policy saying the president doesn't understand what is happening in the middle east. >> this is part of the story is when we project weakness overseas by gutting the military

with the president's devastating defense cuts, byee kweu by equivocating when you speak overseas on these issues it proceed skwrebtproceed investigates weakness. and when we do that they are more likely to attack us and aur allieour allies are less likely to address us. martha: you have mahmoud ahmadinejad and morsi up today to speak at the u.n. he smoke on the attack about the embassy in cairo. >> the world we live in is not unique culture. as a muslim i believe that the reason for our diversity is for us to compete in doing good.

to understand one another. if we wish to coexist and prosper we must do so by living together rather than by seeking to dominate one another. martha: morsi went onto single out russia and china for backing the bloodshed he believes in syria, and israel for the starvation that is so present in gaza. bill: we'll watch what he says and what we talked about last time with mahmoud ahmadinejad speaking today. let's go to headlines. a new world order yesterday, good luck with that. governor romney accusing the president of not being honest about what really happened in libya. >> we expect candor from the president and transparency, and he continues to refuse to acknowledge what is said by the other members of his administration, this was a terrorist attack. bill: was this a fair assessment from the government, a fair & balanced debate on that in a matter of moments. martha: top members of congress

have sent a letter to the white house demanding more answers about what happened in benghazi. one of the authors of that letter will join us here. bill: also, people cleaning up after he heavy damage when a surprise tornado touches down. this time of year in. >> it started pouring down rain and then it started hailing. >> they were going wards that way. that car right there got the back window bussed out, and back there over overpass a farm and a house got leveled.

martha: offense romney accusing president obama of failing to admit to americans he said exactly how the u.s. consulate in libya was attack. here is governor romney in a knock fox news interview yesterday. >> the president is not admitting and it's clear they do

not want to level with the american penal. we expect candor and transparency and he refuses to acknowledge what is said by other members of his administration. this was a terrorist attack. we were attacked apparently by al-qaida and it's a very troubling development. martha: that truly sent mixed messages. alan colmes joins me now the host of the alan colmes radio show. gretchen ham ellis a spokeswoman to the house american conference and director of public notice. as governor romney rightly points out in this case it has been called terrorism by some folks within the administration. jay carney said it was self-evident that it was terrorism and the president on the view said we don't really know yet what happened. alan is that discrepancy worth pursuing. >> no it's not, jay carney speaks for the president. mitt romney is playing politics here and it's hilarious to see him ask for candor and transparency when his campaign has done the opposite on a whole

range of i shall eyes. he jumped to the conclusions at the very beginning of this before we had all the facts and accused the president and the administration for apologizing for america when nothing of that sort ever happened. he's hurting the country by playing politics during an international interest dense like this. martha: it all boils down to something quite serious, which is whether or not al-qaida is really still a threat in this area, and don't we need to, gretchen, acknowledge that it is if al-qaida was behind this? >> i think we do. listen the administration has been all sides of the issue. they said its spontaneous, they then said no this is an act of terror. are they being honest with the american public or are we basically inept on this issue and inept on middle east issues. i think this is something they need to answer. this administration has had a problem of being honest with american public, honest with where we are in our fiscal and middle east plans here, and they

haven't really told us what we need to be doing. i think it brings into question, that just killing osama bin laden is not enough. that there actually has to be policy here. >> this is a president who has gone after more and got even more al-qaida leaders than any other president. >> i guess that would be one bush policy he would like to take credit for. >> it's also laughable that the president has been on all sides of an issue when his opponent is mitt romney. this is not working out well for mitt romney, look at at numbers. martha: you're speaking in a lot of generalities here. >> no i'm not. martha: i have a very specific question, and is it do the american people have the right to know what happened. >> absolutely. martha: at that consulate? it seems to me we are dancing around it. we have an american ambassador dead. three people, two of them former navy seals who pwe were originally led to believe were on security details for chris stevens which was not the case at all.

where is the dni, where is hillary clinton on this. wrist the president announcing how the investigation is going. >> first of all there is a investigation. the president doesn't report to the american people if we don't have all the facts. martha: report to the american people isn't he elected by the people. martha: go, alan, yes. >> the president is not going to report to the american people until we have all the facts, and unlike mitt romney who jumped to conclusions i think it would be wrapping for the administration or the t-t to jump to conclusions before we know everything. he's been very tough on al-qaida, you can't blame him he's had a great record on going after al-qaida lead tkerts not just osama bin laden you but he's killed almost all the top al-qaida al-qaida guys. martha: there are some alive and well and alive in benghazi. we have to call it what we is and we have to reb nice what happened on the ground there and address it and the president is in a position to talk to us about it. >> we have to get all the facts first. martha: gretchen your turn. >> the president does need to level with the american public and tell us what he does know. when it comes to our national

security it's personal to every american out there. we want to make sure that this nice is being taken care of and i think the president needs to tell us what he does know. yes he can search for all the facts but we need to know. he needs to be tough on the middle east and he needs policies that work. >> this is outrage just the way your side is playing politics? it's not about politics, it's about being honest, it's about having our national security. >> you're simply using this to try to win the election. >> if we were going to use something to win the election it would be the economy. martha: hillary clinton was outspoken when awful this happened. would you not want to hear a little bit more about what is really going on in the ground when you see what chris stevens was concerned about. it goes back to the main question, is there a resurgence and threat from al-qaida in this area that may have emerged because of the arab spring and what are we doing to address it and understand it. >> i don't think we know the full answer to that question

yet. i think we node to get all the facts in ami tk-rbg the chaos of this horrific event so we can get honest and direct answers and get all the facts together. that is my answer. martha: thank you very much. we'll continue to pursue this. we in that members of congress are pursuing it. we'll see where it leads. thank you both. bill: mitt romney's faith is under attack from a leading member of congress yet again. what harry reid is saying now, and what governor romney and paul ryan have said in return. martha: there is a new offer for the replacement refs, a doctor offering his services to help out the nfl. bill: for what? martha: we'll let now. >> we are afraid he's a hazard to the population if he gets out there driving with his eyesight to the way he is he can't see anything to the side or straight ahead, i'm afraid he's going to kill somebody. maybe we can improve all the referee's vision this year. >> are you opening that up to all refer he's or just one.

>> we'll start with one and see ou it goes. woman 1: this isn't just another election. we're voting for... the future of our medicare and social security. man 1: i want facts. straight talk. tell me your plan... and what it means for me. woman 2: i'm tired of the negative ads and political spin. that won't help me decide. man 2: i earned my medicare and social security. and i deserve some answers. anncr: where do the candidates stand on issues that... affe seniors today and in the future? find out with the aarp voters' guide at earnedasay.org

>> it's wednesday and just one week to go until the first presidential debate, the preparations are in full swing at the university of denver. the school is hosting the event which will focus on domestic policy that night. risers are up on the calm must the extightment among the students growing. >> am i going to see the candidates, meet the candidates. they get an understanding of what exactly is happening. it heightens the excitement that this is happening in their house. it's one of those things, like look who is coming to visit us type of an atmosphere. martha: they are lucky. that is exciting to happen on their campus. the first presidential debate next wednesday october 3rd. for full comprehensive coverage

you know where to keep it on fox news channel. we'll have it covered. bill: huge audience for that. a crucial life line for military men and women serving overseas when budget woes and bureaucratic red tape leave our troops in the lurch. claudia cowen found a group ready to help. >> american troops overseas do face challenges behind getting the enemy. afteoften it's a matter of getting basic supplies from soap to stretchers and there can be is that fuse in the supply chain. many popular items are on back order or not in the budget. a small nonprofit out of oakland is sending in reinforcement. though not a military man himself. >> 235 energy bars here. >> reporter: he founded troops direct which relights on donations to file email requests

for often critical supplies. >> single use packs of gum will you b lubracant. >> reporter: the supply most in demand, pod tkerd chalk used to mark ieds. >> that is the killer of forces and we cannot fill this fast enough. >> reporter: while the pentagon works hard to haveee sepbgs tal supplies on hand it can take weeks and months to get some of the goods into the hands of service members who need them. troops direct has the right support and connections to deliver huge shipments in a matter of days and in two years has sent 27,000-pound of supplies to front line troops. >> the responses are receive are full of gratitude, appreciation, comments very candidly how these items have and will continue to save lives and limbs.

>> reporter: with tens of thousands of troops engaged in conflicts around the world he says his mission is urgent, getting america's fighting forces what they need to do their job and come home safe. bill. bill: and we will not forget that. kaud yeah cowan live in san francisco. martha. martha: the white house as we've been talking about continues to face new questions about the violent attacks at our u.s. embassies oversees. >> the the administration has lied to the american for over a week. they have refused to tell the truth about benghaziment they have refused to be open about what happened there. >> top republicans in congress are demanding more answers and transparency from the obama administration. bill: there are growing concerns surrounding voter id laws how the guidelines could create a confusing finish in some races come early november. we will talk about that. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?

that's a good thing, up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral

to see a specialist. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide.

bill: 10:31 in new york. there are new questions about the embassy attacks in libya coming from key lawmakers, about half a dozen top republicans sending a letter to the white house demanding a new intelligence briefing. california congressman buck mckema mkeon is among those. he's with me now. what are your concerns here?

>> this attack happened on 9/11. we have not been told the truth yet from the administration, so eight of the committee chairman wrote a letter to the president asking him yesterday, thanking him for the briefings that they've given us to this point, but indicating they were very incomplete, and it's time that we are told the truth, at least the members of congress who have the oversight responsibility if we don't want to tell the american people, at least tell those of us who have the constitutional responsibility to know what is going on. bill: as you know that is a strong statement when you accuse the administration of not telling the truth. why do you believe that is the case, sir? >> susan rice, a u.s. ambassador to the united nations, five days after the attack that happened in benghazi went before the united nations and said that there was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired hours before in cairo. they were still calling it a

spontaneous reaction, a demonstration that had gone ar arye, omitting the fact that people just showed up, i guess, for no reason, with rpg's and then later attacked a safe house with mortars. and why can't they tell us this? bill: you have said before that you did not learn enough from hillary clinton during a briefing last week. what do you think is going on here? >> i can't understand their rational. you know, i read a statement that was on another channel that the president of egypt gave an interview and he went right through the whole situation, basically told what happened, it was a preplanned act of terrorism on 9/11, and the fact

that the administration was still telling us that it was just a demonstration. bill: why would they do that? >> we are getting close to an election, and all i can think of is that they are just trying to keep the facts unknown until after the election. they are still -- they still have the mentality of treating it like it's a "law & order" issue, rather than a war on terrorism. they have sent the f.b.i. over who had to cool their heels for days before they could even get in there, and i don't know if they are in benghazi yet. but, you know, i heard yesterday about this journal that was found by -- of the ambassador, three days after the attack by a journalist walking through the compound. this is just lew ludicrous. on the face of it the way they are handling this is so incompetent, and treating it

again like it's a "law & order" issue, they've sent the f.b.i. to investigate, like when they find out what is wrong are they going to try to arrest somebody in libya? bill: we'll be in touch with your office and find out what you find out. thank you for your time. i want to bring in senior brooks, a senior fellow for national security affairs. peter what is going on here. >> i have the same concerns that the chairman has, he just expressed, and he's probably better informed than i am. we see all of these loose treads on this narrative coming out of the white house. my sense at this point because of those new pieces of information that don't all fit together that they are doing everything they can, the white house is doing everything they can to protect this perception that president obama has a very strong national security record, especially on terrorism. the last thing you would want to have is this -- the administration has had this mantra about gm is alive and osama bin laden is dead, the last thing they would want to have is something that runs

counter to that narrative that says osama bin laden may be dead but al-qaida is alive and ant eye american terrorism alive and we just saw it on 9/11 r-r i 9/11. bill: buck mckeon is laying down strong allegations. john pwa razz a said this two nights ago. >> we had a top secret briefing on what happened in libya. i think they are either stonewalling. it seems to me like there is a cover up going on that they don't want the american people to know what really happened there. bill: that is something else there, cover up. >> that's a very strong word. it's a very strong worbgsd and bill i'm in the same situation you are, we're seeing the same pieces of information. i think the only way we can get beyond this is for congress to undertake an investigation of this. or the white house to provide us with a time hraoeufpb everything thetimeline of everything we know.

i don't want intelligence sources and methods, there are ways to come clean on this and put all of these concerns and accusations and allegations aside. i think the white house has the power to do that. obviously if the members of the congress and senate are not getting the information we need we should be very concerned about that because they have all the security clearances and there is no reason not to share that information with them. remember, bill, we lost four brave americans just two weeks ago and i think that not only the congress but the american people deserve some straight answers. bill: one of them our leading ambassador in that area. peter brooks, thank you for your time out of washington today. >> thank you, bill. martha: folks in southern illinois are cleaning up today after an apparent tornado swept through that region. it leveled at least one home, damaged several others. the winds flipped a tractor on its side. the driver suffered minor injuries. people reported seeing a second funnel cloud out there. all of this came as part of a severe form system that also

dropped large hail and several inches of rain, very tough day in that part of illinois. and some controversial comments about governor romney's religion from a fellow mormon, senator majority leader harry reid, what he said about the g.o.p. candidate and the fallout. that's next. there's the sign to the bullpen.

here he comes. you wouldn't want your doctor doing your job, the pitch! whoa! so why are you doing his? only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn whoa! is actually something more serious like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid-related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may sll exist. let your doctor do his job.

and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

>> talk about the significance of if he gets elected being the first mormon president. how is that? >> you know, i love the fact that we have the first african-american president. that means to me that we are leaving prejudices behind. i would hope that if mitt were elected we would see more of the same. martha: that was ann romney on leno last night talking about her family's religion, her comments come as new reports are surfacing now that senate majority harry reid who is also of the mormon faith says he

agrees with an opinion piece that claims that governor romney has quote, sul lead hi sullied his faith. according to an article he said quote he's coming to the state where a loot of them pwers with the lds church they understand he is not the face of mormonism e. was reportedly speaking in advance of romney's visit to nevada on friday. i'm joined now to talk about the meaning of all this with william mcnearn a former speech writer for president bush and also a columnist. welcome here today. what are your thoughts on all this. >> my main thought is consider the source. we have harry reid willing to say anything about governor romney's taxes and so forth with no evidence. and the idea that senator reid could accuse someone else of s sulleying the mormon faith is just beyond belief. martha: you glow back to other

controversies over faith that have surfaced in the course of presidential elections and we just have a quick snippet to remind people of jeremiah write and what he sounded like and we'll talk about the controversy that followed all that. >> god bless america, no, no, no, god bless america, not god bless america, goddamn america gee was the pastor of a church that the president attended for a longtime. there was a lot of controversy on whether it was right to go there and talk about the things that reverend wright said. does that fit in with whether or not it's okay to talk about mitt romney in this way and his religion? >> i think it's fair to talk about religion and a person's beliefs, but we are talking about it in a political sense. the better comparison here is with paul ryan the other person on the republican ticket. we have the n u.n. s on the bus and all sorts of liberal catholics saying not only that paul ryan is wrong but that because he believes in free

markets and so forth he's in the a good catholic. that seems to be the same thing that senator reid is suggesting. i'm not an expert in the mormon faith but it seems to me a lot of these people put their politics as religion and they want to brand people who don't accept their political dogma. martha: there was a fair amount of time spent on the republican convention that took on the issue of mormonism. people got up there as testimonials and talked about mitt romney and the kind of man he is and the kind of man they have got even to know him as in his faith. here is one from a woman whose family he helped. >> how many men do you know would take the time out of their busy lives to visit a terminally ill 14-year-old and help him settle his affairs? martha: since all of that it has emerged that the romney family has given millions of dollars in charitable donations, a million

one hundred thousand dollars in that taxable year to the mormon church. you know, should it be off limits, and you say consider the source when you talk about harry reid, but this is an extremely prominent senator in the united states. do you think he should apologize for saying these things? >> look, i think a couple of things. one, obviously he should apologize, it's an outrageous statement, because what easy tacking is not anything mitt romney has really done, but just the idea that he holds different beliefs on the market, and on politics that that how that is sullying his faith. but look it works. we are doing a segment on this right now, we'll probably be writing about it and so forth. senator reid is very calculating, he says the things on the taxes because he knows for the moment it push is the debate in his direction and so they are willing to sort of say anything, but it's really disappointing to see in politics people attacked not for their character, for what they've done in their religion but the fact

that they don't adhere to some progressive, political or though docksy. i think it was pew a year ago that showed that some evangelical christians were suspicious, something addressed in the convention. the most hostile reactions to mormonism come from very secular liberals, far more so than anything else. i think that it's unfortunate that senator reid, a member of the lvs church himself would play to that audience. martha: you would think if anything, you know, having seen the attacks on his church, regardless of who they would impact, politically, you know, that he would be somewhat -- i would expect to be somewhat defensive as you would see in any religion where you sort of support each other. >> the rap on governor romney so far has been he'd be an

excellent neighbor, he's a kind and descent man, given a lot to charity but he hasn't given us a strong political platform of what he would do in specifics. now we have senator reid coming out from left field saying he sullied the mormon faith. if you think about that it's real, i really a nasty charge. martha: thank you for coming in. we'll look for more writing on this in the "wall street journal." thank you so much. bill: "happening now" rolls your way 12 short minutes away. what you got cooking jon. jon: we are about 13 minutes away from comments from iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad. he is to speak before the u.n. general sepl plea today. anti-mahmoud ahmadinejad protests already underway. we'll get reaction from john bolton and former cia operative mike baker, plus both campaigns hitting the crucial swing state of ohio today and we'll take a closer look at another battleground state, michigan.

a spreading outbreak of saars spreading fear around the world, and privacy versus public safety at the supreme court, it's all coming up "happening now." bill: you've got it jon. we'll see you then. will we know who won the white house on election night sth what about the race for control of congress. changes in the poll could mean this year's vote counts could take longer than usual. the judge weighs in on that. martha: we are talking about a lot of important things on this. this should have been our headlines. a shortage of pork, no bacon, no bacon, egg sandwiches, who is going to bring home the bacon, folks. >> we even have a blt bloody mary that has a piece of bake bacon inside the bloody mary.

♪ [ male announcer ] introducing a stunning work of technology. introducing the entirely new lexus es. and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection.

martha: bad karma for bacon lovers everywhere we are hearing prediction has there could be a global shortage of pork products and that would cause prices to sky robt th skyrocket the next year as droughts have raised the cost of seed and that forced ran ranchers to downsize. they say while the price is a concern there will not be a shortage. you'll have to pay more for the bacon, egg and cheese or the blt but you will be able to get it. bill: how about the guy before the break saying he put bacon in miss bloody marys, that is going a little too far. martha: that is too crispy. bill: he's a bacon lover, right. martha: exactly. bill: new concerns about voter id laws in key states. could new guidelines make for a long night on election night.

andrew napolitano, the judge is in the house our fox news senior judicial analyst. >> right now i'm hungry for bacon. bill: me too. what is the difference in these new laws, they say what? >> the laws in many case and the supreme court has upheld this as being reasonable to assure that vote tabulations in elections are accurate, require an id issued by the government. if a person shows up and they've always voted at this place and they've always lived at this address but they don't have the id they can cast a provisional ballot. now comes the problem. what do the election officials do with provisional ballots? well in some states they will count the provisional ballot, as soon as they can verify that this person is the person they claim to be even though they didn't have an id. in some states they will not count the provisional ballots unless the race in that state is so close that the provisional pal lots if countette could a tebgt the outcome. the supreme court says the rules

have to be uniform throughout the state. they can differ from state to state with you within a state they have to be uniformed. this is the first time this election officials have had this kind of burden imposed on them. bill: i got you. i'm starting to see it now. there is a separate pile of votes that will be larger in the provisional pile that we have seen before. >> yes, people are likely to show up and the election official is likely to say, i know you're bill hemmer and you live at such and such address but without the id i can only let you vote provisional. bill: we are going to cover our rear and let you do that. what did the supreme court say in 2000, bush v. gore? >> whatever the state does they have to do it uniformly. they can't at one end of the state quickly count the provisional ballots because they recognize the voter and in the other end of the state take their time and verify who the voter was. they have to be the same throughout the entire state. if they do it in one part quickly and another part slowly they are violating the rights of

the voter in the part of the state where they did it slowly. bill: get ready of the butterfly ballots, which has been done by the way. listen, will this deter fraud? will it get rid of folks that are not registered? >> i think it will deter fraud, it will defor people from voting that are not registered but it may cause all of us to work very early into the morning of the wednesday afternoon election day because it's going to slow down the final, official tabulations. remember, the process does not happen in one central location throughout any given state. it happens in hundreds, in some cases thousands of precincts and they all have to do the same thing at the same time. bill: or even beyond wednesday if the race is that close. >> don't even say that bill. bill: we like working . how many states are we talking about that could be impacted by these new laws? >> a dozen, 12. some as large as texas. bill: right on, judge. you'll watch it for us won't

you. >> it's my job, bill. bill: okay. buddy. see you soon. bring the bacon next type. >> you got it. martha: it's one of the most crucial battleground states in this election and president obama and mitt romney are toe-to-toe in ohio today, their strategies, how they plan to win the state come november, that's ahead. ♪ ♪ ♪ hi dad. many years from now, when the subaru is theirs... hey. you missed a spot.

...i'll look back on this day and laugh. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

♪ moon river wider than a mile, i'm crossing you in style some day. ♪ martha: crossing in style, he owned that song. bill: yes he did and so many others too. we lost him today, the news came out about an hour ago that he died of bladder cancer at the age of 84 last night. martha: i used to love the andy williams christmas specials. i looked forward to them and back then it